A Farm Information Model for Development and Configuration of Interoperable ICT Components to support Collaborative Business Processes – a case of late blight protection

Farm enterprises2
The objective of this paper is to describe a farm information model and a proof of concept that demonstrates how a collaborative Business Process for farming can be configured using this farm information model. Knowledge to develop this model and a proof of concept is obtained by case study research focusing on the collaborative Business Processes of spraying and crop protection of potatoes against late blight disease. need to collaborate with numerous actors that are part of Agri-Food Supply Chain Networks (AFSCNs) such as governments, advisory services, contractors, processors, input providers and certification bodies. This collaboration is required to produce food in a more sustainable, safe and transparent manner. To collaborate efficiently and effectively, information needs to be shared within collaborative Business Processes. The information sharing within such collaborative Business Processes should be supported by an ICT infrastructure consisting of interoperable ICT Components. Currently, most of the available ICT Components are not interoperable, hindering data exchange between ICT Components of various vendors. Consequently, this situation is hindering optimization of farm production processes and collaboration in AFSCNs. Therefore, a platform, called FIspace, is being established for multiple domains that support the development and configuration of interoperable ICT Components into a system that is able to support collaborative farm Business Processes. To develop interoperable ICT Components and configure these in an easy and flexible manner to support farm enterprises, a farm information model is, amongst other models, required.The presented farm information reference model is able to describe the relations between a farm enterprise and its collaborators, the Business Processes related to the supporting ICT Components and the data messages for data exchange between ICT Components.